Language barriers impede access to health care among the members of ethnic minorities, and their negative effects are even more visible in mental health care. Counselling psychologists who work with the clients in their native language have a capacity to understand them and their situations more fully. In addition, these psychologists often come from the same cultural background and participate in the same immigrant/refugee community as their clients, allowing them to better understand the culture and the politics involved in each case.

Currently, five provincial professional organizations of psychologists allow to search for psychotherapists by the languages they work with: